Black Lake

“There is much to remind us of Plath, but this is a Plath to fit in the vibrant, unholy, and unsustainable present, resulting in a collection that thrums with blood and desire and derangement and clear-headed horror.”–Emily Temple, Literary Hub

“A phenomenal examination of infertility and grief over miscarriages, and a refreshing expression of a unique voice. To say Skaja’s is one of the best book I’ve read about miscarriage doesn’t do it justice.”–Rebecca Morgan Frank, Literary Hub

“I’d follow [Emily Skaja] anywhere, and certainly into the abyss.”–Emily Temple, Literary Hub

“Emily Skaja’s poems relentlessly convey the overwhelm of grief in ways that are truly breathtaking. Black Lake is an incredibly accomplished collection.”–Roxane Gay

“Emily Skaja’s Black Lake kaleidoscopes with approaches to the vernacular of a grief so profound that it requires delicious cynicism, disarming self-exposure, and Plathian acidity. Skaja shows us that poetry is as tenacious and grand as spring, yanking us once again from the underworld.”–Diane Seuss

“Emily Skaja writes grief the way it arrives–sharp, recurring, laced with dark humor and fury… . Nature in Black Lake is a dynamic and parallel presence that runs through these ferociously wild and witty poems–even as they insist that we wrest and reckon with loss.”–Aimee Nezhukumatathil

“Skaja balances her confessional mode with acerbic observations … reminding us that grief has its own rhythms and tonal register.”–Hamilton Cain, Chapter 16

Emily Skaja is the author of Brute, which was selected by Joy Harjo as the winner of the Academy of American Poets First Book Award. She lives in Tennessee and teaches at the University of Memphis.

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